Gustatory Circuit » Side Dishes

Happy New Year!

Yvonne — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 02:28:58 +0000

Notice anything?

No? Then let’s compare the above photo with this one:

And I’ll give you a hint. The difference doesn’t have anything to do with the subject of the photo.

That’s right…NEW CAMERA!

My trusty old Canon Powershot A20 went into its well-earned retirement on its 10th birthday. The new baby, as you can see, is much better at handling closeups and low light conditions. It also has a built-in image stabilizer.

The food is nothing in particular—a dinner designed for the express purpose of using up pantry ingredients. The rice pilaf is a variation on the sage rice pilaf you see in the second photo. I didn’t have shallots so I threw in half an onion and a bunch of diced baby carrots instead. I actually prefer this version to the original—the carrots add a bit of color and onions are less expensive than shallots.

The chicken is a mindless pan-fried chicken. I took boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed off the excess fat, and butterflied them a bit so they’d lay pretty flat in the pan. Then I put some cornstarch, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a giant baggie, threw the thighs in, and shook to coat. Pan-fried them in two batches, 3-4 minutes per side, setting them aside on paper towels to drain.

I had all this wonderful fond left at the bottom of the pan, so I deglazed with a bit of chicken stock, let it reduce down a bit, then hit it with a dash of white wine vinegar, salt, and pepper when it was off the heat. Poured the sauce on the chicken, added some oil back to the pan, then quickly sautéed the broccoli while the meat rested.

Snapped a photo (just one!—I would have had to take at least 4 with the old one because camera shake was so bad in low light), then chowed down.

Happy 2010, everybody!

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Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits w/Cheddar and Chives

Yvonne — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 01:48:34 +0000

Prep time: 15 mins
Bake time: 15 mins
Makes: 10 large biscuits

I just brought these to a party and I think they were all gone within ten minutes of my arrival.

These tasty, tasty biscuits are dead easy to make. The base recipe is the Flaky Cheese Biscuits from Fine Cooking. I’m not going to re-post the recipe here because really, it’ll be better for you to work from the original; it contains a lot of tips that will help the biscuits come out right. My only variation is to mix a bunch of finely chopped chives with the cheese before folding it in.

For maximum flakiness:

The butter and buttermilk need to be COLD. If you feel the butter softening up as you’re distributing it through the dough, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and stick it in the fridge until it chills.
Do not overmix or knead the dough. It’s ok if the dough looks clumpy and not at all like dough after 1 minute of mixing. It will come together after you dump it out and start to fold it. Forget the rolling pin; just dust your hands with flour and press.

Be sure to also check out the other variations on the same recipe: Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits, Fresh Herb Biscuits, and Caramelized Onion Biscuits.

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Spicy Crab and Avocado Salad

Yvonne — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:42:18 +0000

Prep time: 10 mins
Serves: 2

Apologies for the utter lack of presentation here. I literally ate it out of a mixing bowl.

The story of this dish goes back to Memorial Day weekend. My husband and I had taken a jaunt to Austin where I had the most delicious spicy crab and avocado salad at Louie’s 106. I wanted to try to make something similar at home.

I started from the Cilantro-Lime Crab Salad in Avocado Halves recipe at Epicurious and changed it up based on what I wanted and what ingredients I had on hand. The end result differs from the divine concoction I had at Louie’s in several significant ways (it’s a salad and not a ceviche, for starters), but it’s in the right flavor family and was plenty good enough to satisfy my craving.

Spicy Crab and Avocado Salad
Adapted from Epicurious

1/3 c. finely chopped red onion
3 T. mayonnaise (I used Japanese mayonnaise, but regular should be fine)
1 t. dried cilantro
3 t. lemon juice
1/2 t. ground cumin
Zest of 1/2 lime
8 oz. lump crabmeat
1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted, insides scooped out
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Tobasco sauce

In a small bowl, toss the avocado pieces with 1 t. lemon juice to prevent browning. Break up the largest chunks with a spoon.

Put onion, mayonnaise, cilantro, remaining lemon juice, cumin, and lime zest into a mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Add salt, pepper, and Tobasco to taste. Stir in crab meat and avocado.

That’s it! So easy! So tasty. Great as a side or as a light lunch.

Budget:

Item	Price
1 avocado	$1.99
1 lime	$0.34
8 oz lump crab meat from Costco	$8.00
Total	$10.33

Pantry ingredients: Red onion, mayonnaise, dried cilantro, lemon juice, cumin

At around $6 per serving after accounting for the pantry ingredients, it’s one of the pricier things I’ve shown on the blog so far. But the salad I had at Louie’s was $10 per (smaller) serving, so it’s still totally worth it.

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